Christian Siriano's New Book Goes Beyond Just Compiling His Greatest Hits

"I didn’t choose every major red-carpet moment—I didn’t choose every piece that I think people responded the most to," Christian Siriano tells Glamour about selecting the gowns featured in his first-ever book, Dresses to Dream About, published by Rizzoli and released today. "Some of my favorite dresses in the book are just favorites, that maybe nobody has ever worn. I just like them."

The designer, who specializes in evening wear and has a longstanding practice of dressing a diverse group of women (regardless of size or background), had almost a decade's worth of taffeta and silk organza confections to pick from. He's been pretty much a constant presence in Hollywood circles since he founded his eponymous brand in 2008. Flip through the 223-page book and you'll come across Christian Siriano gowns you'll instantly recognize (like the dress Leslie Jones wore to the premiere of Ghostbusters—but more on that later) to others from his archive that mostly had gone unnoticed. Now, in Siriano's opinion, they'll have "a little moment to shine."

As it goes in fashion, so much of how a particular garment is remembered in the public imagination depends on who wore it when—something that Siriano says he's definitely noticed throughout his career: A gown will go down the runway without much fanfare, but put it on Coco Rocha some months later, and it's a totally different story. That was the case of the dress she wore as his date to his first-ever CFDA Awards in 2014, now forever documented on page 36. "It’s funny how one thing can change everyone’s perception—that’s kind of how fashion is in general, so it can be frustrating for a designer," he says. "But that’s why this book exists, so people can see beautiful things for what they are."

Dresses to Dream About is as effective at putting the spotlight on these hidden gems within past Christian Siriano collections as it is at showcases the designer's creative range, showing the over-the-top ball gowns we fawn over on the red carpet alongside some of the quieter silhouettes he's made expressly for public figures looking to create a powerful image, like Michelle Obama. "[People] know Christian Siriano pieces were kind of big, textured, ruffled confections that I loved to do, which was great, but the work definitely changes," he explains. Though it manifests in different forms, there's a common thread to his body of work: "There's always this fantasy, dreamlike thing to everything we do. It’s never this edgy, downtown grungy girl—it comes from a romantic place, I think."

Ahead, Siriano walks us through some of the most important moments captured in his book and others that didn't make the cut, but have nonetheless shaped the brand in ways that are otherwise noted in Dresses to Dream About. In the end, they're all about a simple idea that's deeply rooted in the designer's business: "I want to show that all these women can like look beautiful in my clothes. That’s always been really important. Sometimes the challenge becomes making sure that it’s right for the person that I think would want to wear them, [and] to show that you can still have a voice but dress all these different types of people. Hopefully, people still think that the clothes look like my brand—that’s what we still work on and we’ll be working on forever. But I like that challenge."

The Viral Success

Siriano fans will likely get excited to see the red-hot, cotton-crepe, off-the-shoulder V-neck gown he made for Leslie Jones last summer after she couldn't find a designer to dress her for the premiere of Ghostbusters. An innocent Twitter reply has turned into a friendship of pretty epic proportions (if you haven't watched videos of Jones cheering Siriano's spring 2018 collection down the runway, we highly recommend you do so immediately)—but, more important, a highly symbolic red-carpet moment.

In the book Siriano rehashes the story of how he and Jones connected and how they collaborated on creating a gown that felt special and true to her. "I wanted to bring old-Hollywood nostalgia into this and create an iconic moment even before it actually happened," he writes. How exactly does one premeditate an iconic moment? "Obviously the dress is powerful and people respond to it, but I think also that [when] the person wearing it feels so good in it, they almost become also this powerful person," Siriano explains. "That happened with Leslie: [She] put on this dress, and it really transformed her—but also it was very simple. So I love that something so simple could make such a big impact."

The One With an Unexpected Ending

This tulle, jacquard, and crystal-embroidered gown is the oldest of Siriano's designs featured in Dresses to Dream About, from his spring 2011 collection. In the book he admits that it "wasn't the most praised gown in the runway show"—however, it's perhaps one of his most famous garments, thanks to one Miss Taylor Swift.

"The reason I put that in there, at the beginning, was that that dress got a lot of critiques [when it was shown] on the runway—people thought it was big, and maybe at that time ball gowns weren’t what was happening," Siriano tells Glamour. "But then it got chosen by Taylor Swift [for the Wonderstruck fragrance campaign in 2011.] She wore it, and we literally talk about that dress until this day. That was years ago." Sometimes, you've got to play the long game.

The Symbolic Step Up

When Siriano introduced this black-and-white column gown as part of his resort 2016 collection, there wasn't much fanfare. "Nobody was really interested in [that dress]—it wasn’t a top seller," he recalls. But when the designer was invited to his first-ever CFDA Awards in 2014, he and his date for the evening, model Coco Rocha, would land on that very dress to make his red-carpet debut at the storied industry event.

In the book he describes the gown as "such a meaningful creation to me," and that's largely because of what the CFDA Awards represented to him. "[The CFDA] is a place where you’re always trying to showcase your work, and I think that night I wanted people to see that we make beautiful clothes that can be really powerful. That’s something the world outside of the industry sees but I wanted fashion to really see."

"What was exciting for me was that it was my first CFDA Awards—when it’s your first one, you definitely still feel like the new kid," Siriano explains. "What was so powerful [about Coco] there was her presence—I feel like she cleared the room but also knew every single person because she's been in the business for so long. When Coco feels good in a dress, you can tell—I think why I’ll always remember it [is] because I know that she felt really good it in. Coco’s worn thousands of dresses from every major brand in the entire world, so when she feels good in [one of my gowns]…it's nice."

Once Rocha posed for photos on the red carpet at Lincoln Center, the public's perception of that resort 2016 gown changed. "We got such amazing reviews—I get requests for that dress all the time now," Siriano says.

The One That Started a Whole New Chapter

When looking back on Siriano's work, it's far too easy to get stuck on the Hollywood angle. Over the past 10 years, the designer has dressed countless celebrities for who knows how many red carpets. (He's been known to have multiple attendees wearing his label at the same awards show.) His relationships with these women go beyond simply making gowns for them—in many cases, they're legitimate friends. As one can expect from someone with such a strong celebrity record, there are plenty of anecdotes featuring high-profile subjects sprinkled throughout Dresses to Dream About. But some of the most poignant anecdotes come in the form of testimonials given by some of the women Siriano has dressed over the years, which are printed on the book's back cover.

One person Siriano really wanted to chime in for Dresses to Dream About was Christina Hendricks. Though none of the dresses he's made for her over the years made the final cut, he largely credits the actress for giving him exposure when he was just starting out, during her Mad Men days. (Hendricks first wore Siriano for the 2010 Golden Globes.) "Christina [had] a big impact because she was so early on in my career, and she was choosing me to have these custom gowns made for some of the biggest red carpets. [Mad Men] was such a huge show, so she really pushed me in very public directions," he recalls. "And people really judged those dresses quite intensely early on—I kind of had to work through those different things as well. As the years have gone on, we’ve found such a beautiful relationship together. Whenever she needs something, I make it for her."

The Longstanding Collaboration

Zendaya is another celebrity relationship Siriano deeply values. (And, like Hendricks, the actress gave a quote for the back cover of Dresses to Dream About.) "We were dressing Zendaya when she was 14 years old—nobody knew who Zendaya was," he recalls of when they first met. "I was just sending her clothes because she needed [them], and now she’s literally like one of the biggest It Girls in the world."

In the years since, Zendaya has worn Siriano multiple times, but there's one instance that really sticks out to the designer. "She wore this amazing electric, fuchsia-pink suit [to the Humane Society of The United States' To the Rescue Gala in 2016]. I made it for her really quickly, but it was just a nice moment when I knew that I loved making clothes for her and she wears them so well."

"When you’re working with an actress or a musician or whatever it is, you work with their stylist as well and you have to have a good relationship with them—that’s an important thing," he adds.

The Powerful Symbol

By broadening the scope of the book to go beyond red-carpet dressing, Siriano also brings together one-off pieces he's created over the past decade that showcase his range as a designer: He can do the tulle fluff, but he can also do the sleek A-line, and they'll both be impactful in their own way. Case in point: the dress he made for Michelle Obama for the 2016 Democratic National Convention.

Like the gown he made for Leslie Jones that same summer, "they’re actually very, very simple pieces, but they were very powerful," Siriano tells Glamour. "[Obama] chose to be simple and a bit demure because her speech was so powerful and was such an important moment. That was very important to get across in the book, that not everything has to be an embellished piece to be powerful and beautiful."

The One That Showed the Range

There have been other looks Siriano has worked on over the years that have demonstrated his creative versatility. A persona favorite was the two-piece he designed for Solange to wear to the Academy Awards in 2017. "It was this cape and pant, and it was so different for the Oscars, but I think people reacted so amazing to it because it wasn't a ball gown and [it wasn't] what they would expect to be my work on a red carpet," he recalls. "So for me, that was just so amazing. I was really happy that people could see another side of my work."

The Lifelong Dream, Achieved

Siriano has been largely praised for his inclusive approach to fashion. The deciding factor on whether or not he'll dress someone for an event? He has to be a fan of their work. That has led him to make gowns for women of all backgrounds, body types, ages, and professions—and has allowed for a few "wish list" dressings over time. His favorite recent one? "Somebody that I just loved for a really long time is Kathy Bates. I grew up with her—and I got to dress her for the Emmys," he says. "I went to her home, and she was so lovely and gracious. It was really wonderful. She wanted to have fun and wear something different and exciting."

The Princess Moment We Weren't Expecting

The publisher's deadlines prevented a lot of his more recent work to be profiled in Dresses to Dream About, but there are a few of these getups that Siriano believes highlights some of the recurring themes of the book, such as how he sees fashion as transformative, as much about the garment as it is about who's wearing it. Consider, for instance, one of his most recent muses, Cardi B. "We put her in a giant ball gown for Rihanna’s Diamond Ball, and I think nobody expected her to wear that because she’s obviously quite a character, but we wanted to give her this pretty, real Cinderella moment," Siriano says. "I think sometimes people judge people before they’re seeing them really. And sometimes clothes help that."

The One That Didn't Make the Printer's Deadline

There is one gown that got away (from the printer, at least), per Siriano: "Something that I’m sad didn’t make the book is the dress that we did for Céline Dion. That was I think a very iconic moment for me, and I was happy that we did it for the Beauty and the Beast premiere." Again, it's not a design one would expect from Siriano—but once it found its perfect pairing on the red carpet, its story totally changed. After Dion wore it back in March, he says, "the gown did really, really well—we sold a lot of them." Maybe for Dresses to Dream About, Volume 2.